I recently saw a PC that had an unusual account type.

Normally, an XP user account would be:

• Computer Administrator
• Limited

But in this case, the user account was shown as: unknown account type.

The account was meant to be an administrator account… and indeed it seemed to have admin privileges (ie I could install programs, etc.)

So I decided to follow up, and find out what it means, and if its something to worry about.

It seems that an unknown account type refers to an account that isn’t an Administrator, nor a limited account.

Its probably created by altering the privileges of an existing account (eg giving an limited account an extra privilege, or removing a privilege from an admin account.

So, if the account is working as you would expect, then its nothing to worry about.

However, if the account doesn’t have enough privileges, and you don’t have another admin account, then “upgrading” the unknown account type (to administrator) can be a bit tricky:

Start the PC, and press F8 before the XP logo appears… select safe mode… then choose the account called: “Administrator”.

Now you can go to control panel -> user accounts -> name of the “unknown” account -> change my account type -> computer administrator.